Heads Up for Week 6 March 2020

Back again with a quick round up of information that might be useful as we begin to hope that spring will actually start soon  – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

Staff Availability - Two Easy Google Calendar Hacks

1. One of our ongoing Faculty-level NSS actions is to use staff google calendars to show staff availability to students and to use the term STUDENT DROP IN (rather than office time/hours, which some students find confusing). If your staff google calendar has a default of private and all your meetings/events show as BUSY, rather than give any detail, then you need to change the setting for each of your DROP IN sessions to public, otherwise students cannot see them.

This advice shows you how to do that.

2. If you want students to be able to see your google calendar more easily and cut down on your emails, you can create a link in your email signature (the bit at the end of all your emails). Many staff already have this as they can refer students to it, rather than emailing back and forth to arrange meetings.

This advice shows you how to do this. The link is dynamic and so it always links to your google calendar for the current week.  

Well done to academic staff in the School of Engineering, Computing and Maths, 93% of whom had their DROP IN hours visible in their calendars at the last audit done by the Principal Lecturers Student Experience.

Talking Teaching

Our Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD) is looking to develop a university-wide community through teaching and learning. As 'Inclusivity' and 'Employability' will remain as a key strategic themes for the University, this is an excellent way of working on, and working up, projects in these areas with others and being in a position to bid for funding from the OCSLD schemes.

The deadline for applications to join the Brookes Learning Communities are closing now so be quick and apply. The application forms (and more information about the theme is on the form) are quite short and this is a great opportunity to secure funding for projects in each of these areas from March '20 - Feb '21.

Enterprise Education application form 

Leading Inclusive Teaching application form

Here are the direct links to the funding opportunities in OCSLD:

Teaching Innovation Project Funding - up to £3000 over one year

Teaching Excellence Fellowship Funding - up to £7000 over two years

NSS 2020

The NSS2020 is open and students are completing it. Click the link to see if your undergraduate programme is over the line in terms of student response. The graph updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at about 1:30pm.  Green is the response rate, Red is the number still to respond to get to 50% or at least 10 students. Please encourage your final year students to complete. There is a £3 donation to local charities by the university for every response.

Results are published in July (which seems a long way away...)

Save the Date - 8-10 June 2020

The new Academic Framework starts this September for all new students. The Faculty is planning on running multiple Heads Up sessions in June so staff can discuss and ask questions about: the new compensation regulations; the change to how degrees will be calculated,  that students will no longer be allowed to 'trail' modules, removal of in-year pre-requisites, the removal of the 22 rule etc etc.

More on this soon. Have a great week.

Week (minus) One 13 January 2020

Heads Up for Week (minus) One 13 January 2020 

Back again with a quick round up of information that might be useful as we head towards the new semester  – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

Faculty Student Numbers 

The University takes its 'census' of student numbers at the beginning of December each year. It can then compare recruitment against target as part of its planning activities. The recruitment for the Faculty in for 19/20 was excellent.

The headlines for TDE are:
* The only Faculty to successfully hit recruitment targets.
* Largest incoming student cohort in the University (11% increase on 2018/19)
* Faculty with the largest postgraduate community.
* Launch of new programmes has been very successful.
* International student community continues to grow.

So, congratulations to all TDE staff on their hard work on recruitment. We are now in a very good position. The full University recruitment figure can be accessed here. The Faculty's numbers are on the last page.

Need some Funding for a Student Experience Project on your Module/ Programme? DEADLINE midday15 January 2020

Don't miss out on up to £1000 funding under the Brookes Teaching Action Fellowship.

The BTAP - is a one-off award, new for for 2020 only, of up to £1,000 for teaching staff to invest in enhancing your students' experience during Semester 2. Deadline for submissions, outlining your project idea, proposed impact and planning dissemination, by midday on Wednesday 15 January.

The application form is quick and asks: What is your project idea? What is the proposed impact?
How will you disseminate your findings? Information and application form is here.

Details about all the funding available from OCSLD is here.

Uploading Your Marks - Help Desk Open this week

There is a new system for uploading marks. Staff should complete the online mark entry tutorial available on Moodle. Please check your module and assessment component setup in the system (instructions on the SRS Moodle course). 

If you do find an issue with your setup (for example if the assessment weightings are incorrect on the system), please contact Gina Dalton, ADSE gdalton@brookes.ac.uk and include CSI link person Verity Harris vmassingham@brookes.ac.uk in the email as well as your programme lead/subject coordinator).

Finally the Mark Entry Help Desk is open at the following times in Student Central (meeting room 4):

Wed 15 Jan, between 11-1 pm

Mon 13 Jan, between 12-2 pm

Wed 15 Jan, between 11-1 pm

Thurs 16 Jan, between 10-12 noon

The help desk is an opportunity to problem solve any issues you may be experiencing, please ensure you have completed the online tutorial and read the guidance on mark entry at Oxford Brookes. Please bring your own device if possible, as this will enable us to more accurately replicate any issues.

Have a great week and look out for details about the forthcoming Faculty Day. It's next week Tuesday 21 January!

Week 8 14 November 2019

Heads Up for Week Eight 

Can it really be Week 8 already? I've already started eating mince pies. Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful  – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

Getting Students to Completing Module Evaluations

As part of NSS Actions this year, the Faculty is aiming for at least 50% response rate by students to their module evaluations. This is tough but as students can complete using their mobile devices in class, it's not impossible. On attending this semester's Subject Committee Meetings, Lucy Turner noticed that some Module Leaders are able to consistently get a high response from students to their module evaluations, which helps with writing Section 5 of the Module Report - the part that includes any action taken as a result of the student feedback and that gets published on the Faculty Student Voice google site, and in the following year's Module Handbook.

One such Module Leader is Dr Khaled Hayatleh in Engineering. We asked him how he does it and here's his response and a copy of Section 5 from one of his Module Reports

University Module Registration Review - any feedback for the first part of this review? 

The university is beginning its review of the new module registration process that began last year with the campaign to get existing students to choose their modules during April (if they started in September), with new students registering any changes by Week 0. The rationale behind this also relates to the deadlines for major/minor change process for modules, like this:

• up until end of February programme teams submit the changes they want for their modules to be completed and approved by Faculty Committee by end of February;
• during March, the Academic and Student Administration (ASA) get the module and programme changes onto the student information system, making sure there are no issues so they are ready for students to choose;
• during April students choose modules for the following year;
• during May any students timetables with errors are corrected and checked;
• during June, the Timetabling team weave their major and look at the registrations for modules and work out when to timetable modules so they don't clash and how best to fit them in the room space available, given various constraints;
• in July students get issued with a provisional timetable (as numbers on first year modules still need to be confirmed and timetabled).

Students want their timetables as soon as possible so they can plan for their jobs and other responsibilities and in order for that to happen we need to get them to register for their modules during April before the deadline and, have a system that doesn't allow for all the late changes from one module to another that we've had in the past, which scupper any chance of timetabling as numbers on module change constantly and rooms need to change. The new process only allows students to change their modules outside the April window for very particular reasons, such as because they've failed a resit and need to retake.

As a Faculty we are currently looking at whether completely online programmes (where there are no rooming issues) can be exempt from the registration deadlines.

If you have any feedback you want to make for this part of the review, please email me - gdalton@brookes.ac.uk.

TDE Moderation Policy Review

If I had a pound for every time I've read in an External Examiner's report that they'd like to see more evidence of moderation, I'd have about £60. 

Anyway moderation can refer to the assessment briefs themselves before they're issued to students, as well as moderation of student work once it's submitted. The Faculty TDE is seeking to update its existing Moderation Policy. 

The new draft is out for consultation and you can comment on it.

And finally well done to:

Academic staff in Computing, 100% of whom had their DROP IN hours visible to students in their google calendars at the audit done by the Principal Lecturers Student Experience last week. 

Week Five 22 October 2019

Heads Up for Week Five 

It's Week 5 and we are mid semester already. Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful  – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

Preparing for Uploading Marks in the New Student Records System

The first set of marks upload using the new system will be for Module Leaders with PG mark entry in November, followed by UG mark entry beginning in January 2020 (which is a lot closer than you think). Training and support is two-fold.

First, there is a Moodle-based online mark entry tutorial with guidance on how to complete mark entry in the new system.

How to start the tutorial

1. Go to the SRS Moodle course
2. Log in to Moodle when prompted using your usual Brookes login details.
3. Select 'Enrol'.
4. Select the ‘Mark Entry’ tab where you’ll find a self-guided tutorial (PDF) along with an instructional video. 
5. Use the link to the test area to complete the course activities.
6. Once complete, check the ‘Your progress’ box to indicate you have completed the tutorial and activities.

Second there is also F2F guided-practice sessions especially for staff involved in the first round of mark entry. Staff can book onto these, the details are below.

Sessions will run from the end of October to mid-November and are intended as an optional follow-on activity once you’ve completed the online training. During the session staff can work their way through the tutorial guide and use the test Banner environment to practice. To request a place on one of these guided-practice sessions, click on the: SRS training schedule and select a date.

Access Requests - If you are not a module leader but you need access to mark entry to do your job, or if you are a module leader and when you try to access the Student Information system (Banner) you get a ‘Not authorised message’ you will need to make a request for access to Banner Gradebook  using the Oxford Brookes Service Now Access Request page: https://service.brookes.ac.uk/brookes/make-request.do (requests must be approved by a line manager, please include their full name in the request). Contact the SRS Training team at srstraining@brookes.ac.uk if you have any questions.

What is Good Practice in Completing a Module Evaluation Report

The Faculty Quality Team are trying to attend Subject Committee Meetings (SCMs) across the Faculty this semester. One of the really important functions of SCMs is to review the previous semester's modules via the module reports which include results of the Moodle module evaluation that students complete. One of the Faculty actions for this year is to: 

• try and improve the response rate to the evaluation (aiming for 50% of students to complete each of their evaluations) and 
• the quality of the Module Report that goes to the SCM. 

This is an important part of acting of student feedback and to close the loop in showing students that we do value their feedback, Section 5 of the Module Reports is published on the Faculty Student Voice googlesite. This is the section that states the Module Leader's response to the feedback and any action taken.

This completed Module Report is annotated to show what good practice looks like in completing a Module (Evaluation) Report. Any reflections welcome, please use the comment box below.

Knowing the Market for Your Programme - Tools you can use

The University's Market Insight Team have developed a 'Know Your Market' tool with both UG and PG versions. 

You can use this tool to:

- give context to Brookes' recruitment trends
- help to prioritise marketing activities
- give context to programme and portfolio planning
- give context to planning student numbers
- generally 'knowing your market'

The tool shows basic market trends in UG and most PG subjects in which Brookes currently operates, including A level entries, UCAS applications and acceptances, and employment trends.
To access the tool click HERE. This takes you to a spreadsheet on a Google drive, accessible to Brookes users. You can treat this as a website; just bookmark to find the page again.
Be aware in this shared tool that other colleagues may be using the files and filters at the same time as you.

The tabs available in the tool are:

A level dashboard	trends in A level entries
UG recruitment dashboard	basic market trends for Undergraduate subjects in which Brookes currently operates
UG recruitment dashboard by domicile	as above, split by UK, EU, non-EU
PG recruitment dashboard	basic market trends for PGT subjects in which Brookes currently operates
PG recruitment dashboard by domicile	as above, by UK, EU, non-EU
Employment dashboard	UK employment trends

Please do not share the application, acceptance, and enrolment data outside Oxford Brookes University.   

Being involved in Validation Panels and Review Events

A great way to refresh your view of teaching and learning is to take part as a Panel member or Chair of a validation event for a new programme or review event. It can be really interesting to discuss teaching, assessment and other issues with a programme team and other Panel members from different subjects/disciplines, and to see how the University processes work with respect to getting new programmes off the ground, refreshed in a revalidation or reviewed. It's also interesting just to meet other staff from across the Uni (and partner colleges) and share experiences.

If you're interested, it really helps to take part in the basic training which will run again in January in time for all the validation events and reviews that tend to happen in the second half of the year.

Sign up for the training here


That's all for this week. Take care.

Week Four 14 October 2019

Heads Up for Week Four

It's Week 4 already and the nights are drawing in. Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful  – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

New Academic Conduct - What to do if you have student plagiarism, cheating or other academic conduct issues

Last week's Heads Up contained information about how students apply for the new Exceptional Circumstances. This week we're looking at how staff can refer student academic conduct issues if they arise. The Referral Guide is on a link on the right hand menu and contains full information about when, and when not, to refer; what to do when you are marking anonymously, and other situations.

The very basic information is that there's a form to use to refer student's work, and that it is now the Student Investigation and Resolution Team (SIRT) who deal with academic conduct issues (as well as Exceptional Circumstances). Please DO NOT conduct the staff who used to be Academic Conduct Officers in the Faculty, as that role no longer exists.

How to Refer 
The google form can be found via this link: https://forms.gle/97xJZAqe3PsWDH2q7 

If you need help you can contact the Student Investigation and Resolution Team, via sirt@brookes.ac.uk, 01865 484203 or in person at B1.10 (Buckley, Headington Campus)

Removing students from modules using the M99E/F99D forms before week 6

As in previous years, staff are able to remove non-attending students from their modules using an M99E form for UG students (see menu on right hand side for details and form) and an F99D form for PG students (the latter available on your Moodle dashboard under Forms).

If students have a module or modules on their programme in error, then staff can use the relevant form to help correct the student's programme. This may help those students who still have errors following the introduction of the new Student Information system.

However, please note that students need to be informed before modules are removed by staff this way and the link to the M99E makes this clear. Module Leaders are advised to check with Subject Coordinators before they remove non-attending students from UG modules to make sure the module concerned is definitely not needed.

Only Subject Coordinators and Programme Leads can remove modules from PG students' programmes using the F99D form.

Moodle - why students might not be able to access their Programme-level site

As a consequence of introducing the new Student Information system students may have been unenrolled from their Programme-level Moodle site and enrolled onto a new (though hidden) site.
This new site must now be used instead of the original site one. Please contact Faculty DMELD Patrick Cheeseman pcheeseman@brookes.ac.uk. He will roll over information from the old site and make it visible. Staff enrolled in the old site will also be given access to the new site.

What are Reasonable Adjustments and what do I need to do?

Information about the Reasonable Adjustments Framework is available on the main page of the Disability section of the Wellbeing web pages. This details the appropriate adjustments you may need to make if you have a student or students requiring them via their Inclusive Support Plan (ISP). This could mean adjustments to teaching sessions, your Moodle site, as well as assessment. The Framework aims to provide a context for expectations and entitlements for students considered to have a disability as defined by the Equality Act (2010).The main points to be aware of are:

• The University has a legal obligation not to treat disabled students less favourably
• Students have a responsibility to disclose any disability to the University and can do this at any point during their studies
• Disability/Dyslexia Advisors will recommend reasonable adjustments where appropriate
• Reasonable Adjustments are stated for each student in their Inclusive Support Plan and are disseminated to relevant staff with the student’s consent
• Home students will receive assistance in applying for Disabled Students Allowance
• EU/International students are not eligible for the DSA, but may be allocated a proportionate level of support
• Applicants are encouraged to disclose a disability so that their support needs can be agreed before they enrol.

That's all for this week.

Week Three 7 October 2019

Heads Up for Week 3

Thank you to staff who continue to work hard to get students set up for the year. In particular shout out to our Student Support Coordinators - Catherine, Emma, Marta and Sam, for helping students sort out their programmes and timetables.

Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful as we go into Week 3 – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

NOW CLOSED Modules with Assessment Details Missing - are any of them yours? LAST CALL

The first run of assessment information has been loaded into Banner. Some modules failed to load - mostly because the assessment doesn't add up to 100% - so there are details missing. Check whether any of the modules are yours on this spreadsheet. (NOW CLOSED)
Use the following procedure for any amendments on each line please:

• the assessment type eg. "Written assignment (Individual)". Use the drop-down list to select from.
• the assessment name identifier for Banner eg. CWS2WEEK07 means that line is the second coursework and is due for submission in Week 7. Use the drop-down list to select from
• the assessment weighting. The combination of all of the components must add up to 100%
• please highlight your changes in yellow so they are visible - otherwise they won't get changed

Exceptional Circumstances - How will it work this semester?

Unfortunately the Exceptional Circumstances portal is not quite ready yet. Students have assessments due so the Student Investigation and Resolution Team (SIRT) have an alternative method they can use until the portal is working.
Students will need to complete a Google Form.

Here is the link: https://forms.gle/MwFmbw4bpNVrLYK8A

The SIRT will consider coursework extension requests and if successful will email the module leader and student with the outcome.

If the student is using the grace period or self-certifying for an in-class assessment this will be granted and recorded, but students will be asked to let their module leader know directly (by forwarding the google form receipt.) This is so that module leaders can mark appropriately, or rearrange the in-class assessment as necessary.

Information and the link to the form will be available on the webpage very soon (scheduled for mid week). In the meantime individual students who have enquired have been directed to contact their SSC if they need any information.

Annual Reviews (UG/PG and Collaborative)

This is the time of year when subject co-ordinators and programme leads are gathering their information to bring together their annual review reports and to hold meetings to discuss those reports. 

This year is slightly different than in previous years due to the reporting system, APTT, no longer being able to produce those reports as downloadable documents. In light of this there has been a new report template produced by APQO for teams to complete which focuses more on the narrative of the programme rather than the discussion on data and graphs. This is an opportunity to focus more on the student experience and quality of the teaching and learning on the programme and to celebrate the strengths of innovation and good practice. It also allows the team to think more collaboratively about how they may want to enhance their programme to become more inclusive with a focus on diversity.

Data is still available from APTT and from NSS, BSS and module evaluations and can be used to support the narrative and information presented in the review. In addition, the external examiner report should be acknowledged and any points raised addressed. Please note that responses to external examiners should have been sent in by now and these should have been copied to Henry Swift, our Faculty Quality Administrator. Please forward your response to external examiners as soon as possible if you haven’t done so already.

Help and guidance for the completion of the annual reviews can be found here on the Quality googlesite which was been updated on 8 October https://sites.google.com/brookes.ac.uk/quality-in-tde/annual-reviews?authuser=0

There are additional pages for collaborative provision, data and templates so please explore the site and read the guidance. If you have any questions about the annual reviews then please email Lucy Turner – lturner@brookes.ac.uk.


Have a great week!

Week One 29 September 2019

Heads Up for the End of Week One

Congratulations everyone on surviving the first week. A huge thank you to staff for working so hard to get the new year off and running. In particular thanks to our amazing Student Support Coordinators for helping students sort out their timetables this week.

Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful as we go into Week 2 – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

First, a couple of reminders:

1. Please remember to have your DROP IN time visible on your google calendar so students can see it. If your default calendar setting is to show Busy, then you need to make sure the DROP IN events are public to Brookes. 
2. Check your assessment for your modules is recorded correctly for SI/Banner on this spreadsheet. Any corrections to your Programme Lead ASAP. This information will go into the Student Information system/Banner shortly.

Student Information System (aka Banner) 

There have been issues for a variety of reasons but the focus is now on getting the registration of modules on students’ timetables correct.

As the deadline for registration of modules has passed, the process being adopted for this week is to allow "students who still have genuine reasons for making a change to their programme of study for this year e.g. because it would affect their completion or progression. These students should be directed back to the Banner module registration facility, which will be open this week for those students. If a student encounters difficulties making changes within the Banner system then a Moodle form (M99/F99) should be the next option but only if there is a problem in the self-service".

The new SI does not recognise part-time students and so there are errors as students have been allocated or have chosen the wrong modules. I have requested that the video support for students needs to include a version especially for online/part-time/distance students.

Moodle

If you cannot see your module in Moodle, it probably means you have not been allocated as the Module Leader. Please ask Verity Harris (verityharris@brookes.ac.uk), Curriculum and Student Information Manager in Student Central to register you as Module Leader and you will get access as SI syncs with Moodle overnight. In urgent cases, Patrick Cheeseman (pcheeseman@brookes.ac.uk), Faculty TDE DMELD can give you temporary access.

Subject Coordinators - Using the listing below, Subject Coordinators can now see and check all their Moodle sites are turned on and have the correct Module Leaders (click on the ‘i’ next to each listing. If there is no ‘i’ then there is no Module Leader allocated. Do not try and allocate or correct Module Leaders on Moodle sites yourself – please use the process above.

ARTD (44)

BENV (7)

COMP (65)

CONM (30)

DALT (18)

DESN (7)

DEVC (3)

DEVP (42)

DIGP (50)

EAAM (2)

EIAM (7)

ENGR (83)

ESTM (39)

FILM (41)

GDES (7)

HCON (12)

MATH (23)

MCEL (6)

MJPB (7)

MUSC (58)

NETW (8)

PHOT (7)

PLAN (61)

PMAN (44)

PUBL (63)

REST (38)

ROBO (8)

SOFT (8)

STAT (10)

Supportive Student Attendance Pilot

Following the evaluation of the first pilot of DigiReg last year, the Faculty is running a second pilot focusing on key larger programmes and implementing a follow-up process to the attendance monitoring. These are in Engineering, Computing, Real Estate and Foundation Art and Design. DigiReg can be used in an ad hoc manner by any TDE academic staff  who want to take a register of a teaching or extra-curricula session. More information about this Faculty project is here.

NOTE: any new staff including ALs needing to be added to the system, please email Faculty ADSE Gina Dalton, gdalton@brookes.ac.uk

NSS/BSS Action Plans and PTES Results

All NSS/BSS and PTES data and information, including plan template is available from the Faculty google site https://sites.google.com/brookes.ac.uk/tde-student-experience/home

Undergraduate NSS/BSS Action Plans for all programmes are due ASAP.

Postgraduate PTES results by programme are out. Note that PTES student comments are not ready yet but are on rush.

Have a good week x